Israel Adesanya thinks the key to Paulo Costa finding success at UFC 318 lies in his own head.
Costa will return for his first fight of 2025 this Saturday as he makes the walk to co-headline the UFC 318 pay-per-view in New Orleans.
‘Borrachinha’, who is currently ranked No. 13 at middleweight, is among those tasked with setting the stage for Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight against Max Holloway in the main event at Smoothie King Center.
Amid a difficult period that has seen him collect just one win in five years, Costa desperately needs a big performance against Roman Kopylov on July 19. And ahead of his return, the Brazilian has received some tough love from a former adversary.
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Israel Adesanya urges Paulo Costa to ‘get serious’ at UFC 318 after underwhelming run
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya broke down the upcoming UFC 318 fight. ‘The Last Stylebender’ will have a vested interest in the co-main event, which comes in his division and features the man he defeated to record his second successful title defense in 2020.
Adesanya didn’t hold back while giving his former foe a reality check, insisting that it is all well and good to be entertaining, but he still has to be “motivated” to perform inside the cage.
“Paulo Costa, where’s he been. Can’t remember,” Adesanya said.
“He is still a dangerous dude. … Costa! Show up, man! Just show up and f—– show them. Costa has got the goods, but I don’t know. Who is he training with now?
“Costa just needs to get serious again,” Adesanya continued. “Costa is fun, he is entertaining to watch…(but) just show some balls, man. Go back to who you were before you fought me.
“Take it more seriously. Just f— everything else. … I do like Costa. I don’t think he is a bad guy. But again, just show some balls. Get back to being serious. Show up to fight. He’s had so many — like, once he didn’t make weight. Just show some balls, bro. Be motivated, be disciplined.”
Paulo Costa is already looking beyond Roman Kopylov at UFC 318
Despite having a task to attend to inside the Octagon this Saturday, Costa has already outlined his plans moving forward.
‘Borrachinha’ said on The Ariel Helwani Show that he intends to call out longtime rival Khamzat Chimaev after a victory over Kopylov at UFC 318.
“Chimaev. This son of a b—-, I want to fight this guy,” Costa said.
“It has to happen…I’ll call his name (out) after UFC 318, if God gives me this victory…he needs to fight me and I need to fight him. Because, look, I’ve tried to fight him for a long time. Since our beef inside the UFC PI, he has been avoiding to fight me for a long time.
“He always says no, and the UFC has tried to put this match together, for about two years,” Costa added. “The UFC said he doesn’t want to fight me…I don’t respect him.”
Chimaev will challenge champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in August. If ‘Borz’ wins the title, Costa will likely have some more work to do if he is to secure a second championship opportunity.